


Perfect Happiness

by likeadeuce



Category: Angel: the Series, Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-02-15
Updated: 2010-02-15
Packaged: 2017-10-07 07:19:51
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,645
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/62760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/likeadeuce/pseuds/likeadeuce
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where Nina went with the plane ticket. . .post-series for both 'Angel' and 'Buffy'</p>
            </blockquote>





	Perfect Happiness

The sun was setting over a near-empty beach, but Nina Ash was not ready to give up her perfect day. Cloudless blue faded to purple and gold at the horizon, while strange clusters of stars popped on like streetlights or fireflies.

"Are the stars really different down here than they are in L.A.?" asked a voice from the blanket next to hers.

"Yes." Nina propped up on her elbows. "For one thing, you can see them." She looked shyly at Buffy, hoping the other girl would smile; timid art-school chick trying to impress the pep squad captain.

"I mean the constellations," Buffy persisted. "South of the equator." Her brow wrinkled earnestly, and Nina once again noticed a quality that had surprised her in the other girl, a capacity for intense concentration on a puzzling question. "Either we're seeing different stars, or they're in a different order. Isn't that right?"

"Oh," said Nina. "Yes. But I don't know which stars are which. We have to ask my niece when she and Willow get back from the market. The first thing Amanda asked for when Angel sent us. . .when we moved down here . . .was a map of the Southern sky."

"I'll check that map thing out, then." Buffy smiled and sat up, gripping her knees. "Also, every time I use the bathroom, I keep meaning to flush and see if the water really spirals down backwards. But I always forget."

"To flush?" Nina took another risk, giving herself one more chance before she abandoned Project Amuse Buffy.

"No," said Buffy. "I forget to look." She spoke seriously, but her eyes caught Nina's, and she broke suddenly into a smile. Then Buffy laughed, a full-bodied laugh that lit up her eyes and cheeks. Nina noticed, with something between admiration and a pang, how beautiful she looked.

Nina shifted her body into the hollow she had made in the soft, cooling sand. She didn't know about stars, but she felt that the moon was about to rise. The force of its promise pulsed through her blood. The full moon was still days away, and so she was free to feel the rush it gave her, without the dread of what it would turn her into.

To distract herself from uneasy thoughts, Nina lifted a wrist and checked for redness. "What do you think?" she said. "Will our skin punish our sun-worshipping souls a few hours from now?"

"I don't think so," Buffy answered. "You and me are real California girls. We can take it." She cast her eyes to the edge of the water, where a tall man walked, shirtless, through the surf, the sun painting highlights in his dark hair.

Nina's eyes followed Buffy's, and now she raised her voice so he could hear her over the rush of the waves, calling out, "I don't know what it's going to do to _him_ though!" Her voice carried, and the object of her teasing turned and waved. "You worry about the moon!" Angel called. "I'll worry about the sun."

"Put on a shirt!!!!" Buffy and Nina called together. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Great minds," said Buffy. "Though you can't really blame him. Two hundred years in the dark, and before that? Ireland."

Nina laughed. "Not the sunshine capital of the planet, good point. But he's been in Brazil for months now, and tonight, when he's all red and splotchy like an overcooked lobster? I'm the one who's going to have to lie there and listen to him whine."

"Men are babies," Buffy agreed. "Fortunately, I have no such worries."

Nina felt the color rise to her face. "Oh, God, Buffy, I didn't mean. . ."

"Nina." Buffy rolled over and touched her shoulder. "This visit is not about me being jealous that you're with Angel. He and I have a history, and that means more to me than I can say. But I've moved on. So has he. I'm just glad he's here. I'm glad he's well and. . .well, I'm glad he's like he is."

Angel looked up and waved at both of them. They waved back, and Nina blew him a kiss.

"I used to dream about this," said Buffy. "Angel on the beach in the sun. I never was sure if it was a wish or a prophecy."

"Oh yeah," Nina nodded. "I wonder that about my dreams all the time."

"Really?" Buffy looked wide-eyed for a moment, then dissolved into a laugh. "Oh God, I must sound like the most pretentious person alive. You're this normal girl from this normal place, and you have to listen to all my angsty supernatural slayer crap."

"I'm sort of used to it. Angel can angst with the best of them. As for normal, don't forget that I have to spend three days around every full moon in a reinforced cage, and a slayer standing guard with a crossbow."

"When did I. . .? Oh, you mean Kennedy." When Nina nodded, Buffy said, "Be honest. She does enjoy playing Scary Jailer Chick."

"A little," Nina laughed. "But she's not so bad. I get more worried about Willow letting Amanda play with her spellbooks. The kid just turned eleven, and she's already had her first spell gone wrong."

"Really?" Buffy giggled. "I think even Dawn waited until she was fourteen."

"See, we've got some snakes in the garden. . ."

"Snakes?" Buffy paled a little, and Nina wondered at the possibility that a superhero could be cowed by garden snakes.

"They're harmless," Nina said quickly. "In fact, they drive off the rodents and the crazy big cockroaches. I told Amanda the snakes weren't dangerous, which was fine, but then she took it a step further."

Buffy swallowed. "She made friends with them?"

"I think she saw it in Harry Potter. She taught them to talk. And let's just say we don't get home mail delivery anymore. Or, you know -- any kind of delivery. Though the local priest shows up every Sunday to do a cute little exorcism ritual. For some reason, he's convinced that there are witches on the premises."

"Smart priest." Buffy grinned. "I hope Amanda didn't get too much crap about it. It's not like Willow has room to talk. One time she did a spell, and Spike and I almost ended up getting married. And I mean, old school, evil Spike."

"Spike's not evil anymore?" Nina asked playfully. "You'd never know it to listen to Angel."

"Men," Buffy declared again. "They just have to be like that with each other. The Immortal's the same way about Spike _and_ Angel, but if I was in trouble, I couldn't pick three better guys to work together and help me. Well, four guys because, duh, Xander. Five, really, counting Giles."

"Don't forget Oz," said Nina. "Willow asked him to come down here and help me, and the meditation techniques we practiced? OK, I'm still a little fangy on the full-moons, but I know I'm making progress."

"You're right about Oz," Buffy said. "He's definitely my favorite -- well, my second-favorite -- werewolf to call on in a pinch."

"No!" Nina threw up her hands, laughing. "No counting! No pinching! I have no superpowers, and I"m absolutely no good at anything the slightest bit useful. Now, if you wanted me to sculpt the enemy into submission. . ."

"Sculpt," Buffy repeated. She reached over, picked up Nina's hand, and moved it onto the blanket. "I think any woman who can do something complicated with her hands is amazing. And I know Angel thinks so too." It wasn't just the fading sunlight that reddened Buffy's cheeks. "Wow, that came out way wrong. But me? In grade school, I almost got put in remedial art over my macaroni and Popsicle stick log cabins." She rubbed Nina's palm between her thumb and forefinger. "Nina Ash, I am jealous of your hands."

"You're jealous of _me_?" Nina squeaked, thinking, _Her? Buffy the Vampire Slayer? Perfect Happiness Girl? She wishes she could do some of the things that I'm good at?_

"Yeah," Buffy said softly. "My hands are only good for killing things."

"Buffy!" Nina exclaimed. "That's not true. You're so smart, and you're good at so many things. I mean, when Angel said you were coming down here, I couldn't even believe you would want to talk to me."

"Believe me. You're the one person I knew I wanted to talk to."

"Oh," Nina swallowed. "Because you're worried about the effect I'm having on Angel? That maybe he's staying here because of me and I'm keeping him from his sacred duties or. . ."

"Wait, wait!" said Buffy. "Slow down. Angel's lying low for a reason. Those lawyers will be after him, and he needs time to regain his strength. Plus, Willow is still working on figuring out all the magicks involved in this. . ." She made a face as she tried to get her mouth around the world, "Shoe-shine prophecy?"

"Shanshu," said Nina gently. "But I'm still not sure what this all has to do with me."

"Because you're important to Angel. Thanks to the coven's supersonic sanctuary spell, this little cabana is the safest place on earth right now. And the first thing Angel did before he took on the Big Bad was to send you down here. That has to mean something. So while Willow is trying to make sure Angel stays alive. . ." Buffy grasped Nina's hand and leaned close, "I'm trying to make sure he stays happy." She smiled. "Now that happiness is an option and all."

"So you wanted to check me out and see if I'm a person who can make him happy?" asked Nina.

"Bingo," said Buffy."

"Oh." Nina sat up and hugged her legs close, her eyes resting on the newly-risen moon. "How am I doing so far?"

Buffy reached over to squeeze Nina's arm and, leaning close, gave the answer in a single word: "Perfectly."


End file.
